plant evolution

My Research

 

Flowering plant evolution: systematics, speciation, natural history

 
 

Monarda brevis

Monarda eplingiana

Genomics and systematics

Monarda (Lamiaceae)

  • First reference genomes for Monarda: M. citriodora (diploid) and M. didyma (tetraploid).

  • Genus-wide whole genome sequencing for systematics and historical+contemporary reticulation.

Phlox (Polemoniaceae)

  • Association study + signatures of selection surrounding key floral color loci.

  • Demographic modeling for system of three shallowly diverged annual species.

Pedicularis (Orobanchaceae)

  • Biogeography of P. cranolopha in the Hengduan Mountains in Sichuan, China.


Methods and theory

Multispecies coalescent model + recombination

  • Simulation study showing influence of species tree on genealogical turnover along the genome.

  • Deriving waiting distance to genealogy change along the genome, given an arbitrary species tree.

Software tools

  • ipcoal: a python package enabling phylogenomic simulations

  • simcat: a machine-learning method to infer historical reticulation from SNP data.

SMC embedded in a species tree.

Demonstration ipcoal functions from our paper in Bioinformatics.


Inferring Monarda fistulosa flower color from iNaturalist data.

Red and orange flowers bloom later in the eastern U.S. in response to hummingbird migration.

Community science, natural history, taxonomy

Computational tools and community science data for large-scale natural history

  • Delayed flowering or red flowers in response to hummingbird migration

  • Flower color divergence in Monarda fistulosa

Taxonomy in Monarda and Phlox

Monarda mexicana (left) vs. two different specimens of M. citriodora var. austromontana.